Travel Guide - Donglin Monastery

Posted by Rose Xin
2
Sep 3, 2014
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Donglin Monastery (East Forest Monastery) is seated at the northwestern foot of Mt. Lushan, about 16 km (10 miles) from Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province. It was initially built in 384 A.D. in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420) and developed in popularity through the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Later it suffered a lot of damage and has been renovated in recent years. Now, it receives a great many Buddhist disciples and tourists every day.

Donglin Monastery is the birthplace of the Pure Land School of Chinese Buddhism. It is located behind Mount Lu, facing Xianglu Peak to the South, at the foot of Donglin Hill, which is one of the outer ring hills of Mount Lu. The Tiger stream (Huxi) runs in front of the Monastery, and the bridge over the Tiger leads the way to the monastery gate. The area is clothed with old trees and luxuriant vegetation and with Buddhist chanting fills the air. It is the most graceful place in Mount Lu, the pure land in our Saha world.

Donglin Monastery was built in the 11th year of Taiyuan during the East Jin Dynasty (386 CE). It is the birthplace of the Chinese Pure Land School of Buddhism, the centre of Buddhist learning in Southern China, and one of the eight most influential Buddhist temples since the Sui Dynasty. According to history, numerous high monks, famous poets, emperors, and ministers were connected to the monastery. The temple houses many cultural relics, from the Sutra Translation Platform in East Jin Dynasty to Liang Qichao’s Remaining Stone Tablet of Liu Gongquan from the Qing Dynasty. Behind every piece of relic lies a historical event or a story that influenced traditional Chinese culture deeply.

Since its establishment over 1,600 years ago, the monastery has gone through numerous changes, construction, destruction, and reconstruction.

There are a great many histories and legends preserved in the monastery and some of the halls. The bridge at the front of the monastery is called Huxi (Tiger Stream) Bridge. Legend has it that the master of the Donglin Monastery, Hui Yuan, had focused on studying Buddhism and vowed not to go across the bridge; one day while seeing two of his friends off he was so preoccupied by conversation that he walked across the bridge, when the trio heard a tiger roaring they realized the cause and burst out in laughter. Thus in Sanxiao Hall (Three Laughers Hall) recorded the beautiful legend and preserved it for your exploration. Visitors will also discover more legends about the Shenyun Hall, and the Smart Spring.

Tourists possess the opportunity to reveal vegetarian foods with monks all through the temple. Entering the dining hall, guys sit in lines concerning the brilliant element and girls concerning the left. The monks stand in two lines reciting the Buddhist scriptures, kowtowing toward the Buddha and actively playing religious music. site visitors should not make any audio tracks when eating. If they want a great offer more food, they are able to draw sectors within their bowl with their chopsticks as well as the monks will help them. once the dinner is finished, monks will chant scriptures once more to ask for the Buddha bless the tourists. The whole method is sacred and solemn and provides site visitors using a perception from the heritage from the Buddhist religion.










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